A semiconductor integrated circuit is utilized in almost all electronic parts and electronic devices (hereinafter, they are collectively referred to as electric parts), and is manufactured by forming and processing a number of thin films (e.g., insulating films, conductive films, semiconductor films) over a semiconductor substrate. A display device typified by a liquid crystal display device, an EL (Electroluminescence) display device, and the like is also a kind of an electronic part. Similar to a semiconductor integrated circuit, a display device is also manufactured through a number of thin-film formation processes while there is a difference therebetween in that a display device is manufactured over a glass substrate or a plastic substrate.
Thin-film formation processes are conducted under an environment where entrance of foreign objects is strictly prohibited. However, it is difficult to completely suppress damage to a substrate and a circuit and generation of patterning failure because several hundred processes are included in the thin-film formation processes. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect a variety of properties of electronic parts in order to prevent mixture of defective products.
An inspection device called a semiconductor inspection device is generally used when electric properties of electronic parts are inspected. In this inspection, an electrode or a wiring formed over a semiconductor integrated circuit is contacted with a tip of a fine needle-shaped electrode called a conductive probe to obtain a variety of electronic information. The size of an electrode and wiring depends on the semiconductor integrated circuit and may approximate a region of a hundred and several ten micrometers squares in the case of a miniaturized circuit. Therefore, it is important to certainly make a conductive probe electrically contact with an electrode or wiring with such a small area to perform an accurate inspection.
Additionally, an electrode and wiring are not always arranged horizontally, and their shapes are not limited to a plane. For example, when a package equipped with a semiconductor chip in which a semiconductor integrated circuit is fabricated is subjected to measurement, a lead terminal extending from the package may have a bent structure. Moreover, a solder ball formed over the package may be used as an electrode for inspection. Hence, conductive probes with a variety of tip shapes for reliable electrical contact with an electrode and wiring have been known.